Emma Schaible/Fourth Estate
A motion by Student Life to restructure student government to help with student involvement.
BY BARRETT BALZER, NEWS EDITOR
On March 23, Mason’s Student Government confirmed a structural rework, detailing a new government consisting of one representative body and apportioned academic college seats, to “strengthen the impact of our work” according to the Instagram announcement, which stresses a unified voice as a major part of the new government.
The new structure would merge the Executive Cabinet and Student Senate to become the Undergraduate Representative Body. It will see a total of 50 seats: 20 academic college seats (two per college) and 30 ‘at-large seats.’ According to the announcement, “Committee chair and liaisons are appointed out of the membership of the representative body.”
Elected positions in the restructurings are the undergraduate student body president and executive vice president. Both positions are elected by the undergraduate student body population.
Appointed positions are the Vice President for Outreach, the Vice President for Marketing and the Vice President for Membership Development and Training, selected by the Student Body President and Executive Vice president.
The structure of Mason’s Student Government has not been evaluated since 2007, according to a listening session hosted by University Life.
In the fall of 2022, Dean of Students Juliet Blank Godlove worked to understand why most students at Mason were not engaging with the Student Government. The question led to the creation of a working group consisting of eight students to begin the process of restructuring the student government.
The goal of the restructuring, as stated in a listening session, was “recognizing the decline in student engagement with SG (Student Government) is the changing demographics of students attending the university.”
The stated goals of the restructuring have been proposed to “increase clarity, engagement, and efficiency within the organization.”
The current student body structure consists of three sections. The Executive Cabinet: a student body president, vice president and chief of staff. The Student Senate: lead roles include speaker, speaker pro-tempore and clerk. Finally, the Elections and Disputes Commission consists of a chair and nine commissioners.
The bones, according to Senator Andrey Arcidiacono, a member of the 45th Student Senate and chair of the Student Senate Committee on the Research and Restructure of Student Government, are “academic senators[two per college], residential senators, off-campus senators, at large senators and a student body president.”
Due to low involvement with Mason’s student body, two structures were proposed. The first, chosen by the Student Government, would switch from the current three-section system and become one sole body. An elected president would oversee the Senate, with multiple vice presidents and the committees staying the same. The Student Senate would be renamed to the “Undergraduate Representative Body,” as the ten academic colleges would each have two elected representatives, with 30 at-large representatives also being elected.
The second proposed structure would see multiple branches or bodies, including an executive branch and a senate branch. It also would eliminate overlapping roles between both branches.
Feedback given on the potential restructuring also involved a potential name change, and said, “Consider renaming SG to reflect its advocacy rather than governance. This aligns with the sentiment that SG should focus on community engagement and advocacy.”
One student government member further explained, “We should change our name to Student Advocacy Network. We don’t govern anyone. We advocate for students. The name Student Government is a false name or facade because it’s not what we do.”
